King of Thorn

May. 01,2010      
Rating:
6.3
Trailer Synopsis Cast

A mysterious virus, nicknamed Medusa, is spreading around Japan, turning its victims into stone. Given the impossibility of finding an immediate cure, the government opts for cryopreserving a select group of patients until they come up with a solution. Kasumi, one of the chosen ones, has been asleep for years and her awakening, more than a bed of roses, is a bed of thorns, and happens in the midst of total chaos where monstrous creatures lie in wait all around.

Kana Hanazawa as  Kasumi Ishiki (voice)
Kohsei Hirota as  Alexandro Pecchino (voice)
Misaki Kuno as  Alice (voice)
Tsutomu Isobe as  Ivan Coral Vega (voice)
Sayaka Ohara as  Katherine Turner (voice)
Ayako Kawasumi as  Laura Owen (voice)
Toshiyuki Morikawa as  Marco Owen (voice)
Shin-ichiro Miki as  Peter Stevens (voice)
Eri Sendai as  Shizuku Ishiki (voice)
Akiko Yajima as  Walter (voice)

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Reviews

GamerTab
2010/05/01

That was an excellent one.

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Matialth
2010/05/02

Good concept, poorly executed.

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Taha Avalos
2010/05/03

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

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Cheryl
2010/05/04

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

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Granger
2010/05/05

If one were to be introduced to anime via this film they would either love it or never watch another. If the viewer is into gore, violence, and a storyline that while ultimately resolved and explained is confusing throughout and way outside the box of "weird", this movie fits the bill.However, if the viewer dislikes decapitations, an English dub that is full of profanity (whereas almost none exists in the original Japanese), or anti-God sentiment, this will be most objectionable.The storyline is somewhat interesting but is so over the top and jump the shark it becomes ludicrous. The body count in this is "Jurassic Park" on overdrive. While it does have a final plot twist (somewhat predictable) that almost redeems the movie, the resolution of that plot twist and the ultimate resolution of two main characters is more than most audiences can swallow. Only the most hard-core anime fan will be able to stomach this, and even then we note this doesn't get a high rating.I'll admit I'm a little more demanding in my anime than some, as I am in all movies I choose to watch. This is basic horror schlock done poorly and repetitiously. The inexcusable English dub which turns the Japanese drama into foul-mouthed slop makes one wish they'd have used Google Translate on this one.The final scenes are just unbelievable (I won't include any spoilers, but it's way outside the realm of "I'll buy that could happen"). Had I come here and read the reviews and Advisory before watching this I'd have given it a pass.

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mishaa7
2010/05/06

December 2012 . Starting mass panic in the world. People in all the cities of the world are dying of unexplained illness , turning into stone statues . The virus affects all humanity scientists call the term " Medusa " or the abbreviation AC I. D. - Acquired hardened cells. UN declares state of emergency .At the same time a leading corporation in the field of chemistry «Venus Gate» offers its residents a panacea Earth. Their project " cryogenic sleep ," the essence of which is to put a few dozen people in the capsule for long-term sleep - can save humanity . Venue experiment underground laboratory hidden under the old castle . Among the elected girl Kasumi and arrived with her in order to hold it before a long sleep , her sister Sadzuki . They lost their parents during World disease , but because they are given a parting hard. Their personal nobody knows the history of relations largely affect the further course of events . The experiment takes place and after some time the participants wake up to find himself surrounded by monsters.In the animated anime film " King of Thorn " the authors with amazing fantasy story beat tale " Sleeping Beauty" in the scenery postapocaliptic horror. In the center of the story a few survivors of the experiment. Once alone in the battle with the monstrous creatures , they try to find a way out of the past and find out the reasons of the accident. All laboratory facilities , including an ancient castle itself , orgy spiny tentacles plants , and someone upstairs in the castle tower , watching them , controlling their every move .The gloomy atmosphere and a dizzying events well keep the viewer in suspense . The film did not reduce the pace , throwing up new heroes of this anime encounters with monsters and unexpected plot twists . Bored while watching you just do not have .Characters from the authors went out interesting and memorable . Boy Tim, who constantly compares all monsters and all that happens to a computer game . Catherine Tan experiencing maternal feelings for him . Mysterious and picturesque ( not only his character , but also tattooed body ) male Marco Owen .Do not hesitate , if you should watch the movie "King of Thorn " or not. This is a good intense mystical horror , dynamic fighter and touching drama , imaginatively something in common citations and happening on the screen with many favorite fairy tale. It is unusual , original, witty and not boring.

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ihrtfilms
2010/05/07

This anime feature started well, with a story about a mystery virus that turns people to stone starts sweeping the planet. A select few are chosen to be put into a cryogenic sleep until a cure can be found. When they wake up suddenly it seems that years have passed and something terrible has gone wrong.The early scenes were quite good but once they awoke the film steered into a new area, which didn't work as well. Ideas of dreams and alternate realities abounded and became very confusing as the few survivors try to escape monsters and find their way out of the castle among a sea of massive thorns. This blend of fiction and fantasy just didn't work for me, using so many ideas and notions left me bored and confused, not entirely sure what was happening or really caring. I was also annoyed by scenes at the start where none Japanese characters spoke Japanese, with no hint to their native language, it might be a Japanese film, but that seemed a pointless choice.There are some nice animation sequences and some slight humour through the character of the young boy who compares everything that happens to computer games. However this is one anime film that is not worth the effort.

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Quebec_Dragon
2010/05/08

King of Thorn is a new anime movie based on a short manga series about a new plague called Medusa that infects most of the planet. It's 100% fatal once you're infected and it turns people to a somewhat fragile stone-like state in its last stage. In this cataclysmic scenario, a company proposes to put in cryogenic sleep a few hundred people at a Scotland castle facility until a cure is found. After some preparations and farewells, the chosen (I'm still not sure how they were selected) start hibernating. One girl wakes up after who knows how long, in the dark with no one else awake and with giant thorn vines everywhere. I'm not revealing anything that isn't in the trailer, in fact, I say less. A big part of the appeal of this movie is the gripping suspenseful story about a bunch of people trying to survive in an unknown and hostile closed-in environment (the castle) while trying to discover what happened not only to them but outside. It might seem like just a chase for a while (albeit a good one) but it turns out to be more complex and metaphysical. The grand mystery is even more fun because the nature of their reality is uncertain. The survivors were well characterized and I enjoyed them. I was afraid 2 characters looked too much the same at the start but it turns out they were identical twins (not a spoiler : I just didn't catch that early enough)."King of Thorn" combines traditional animation for characters and 3d computer graphics for vehicles, most moving objects and certain creatures. They mix very well and seem to add depth to the proceedings. I think what helps is that the 3d objects seem to be drawn over or cell shaded most of the time so it's really not too jarring (far from Final Fantasy quality though). The characters are nicely drawn (yet traditional in style) and the action sequences are particularly exciting and dynamic with amazing direction. The decors are picturesque and/or sinister with of course lots of thorn vines everywhere. There's also a nice contrast between medieval castle (almost fantasy) look and sci-fi trappings. I would like to point out one of the last creatures seen (a gigantic green one) that was quite grandiose yet weirdly beautiful (perhaps more so because I did see this in a theater). This film has a nightmarish Sleeping Beauty castle aesthetic and that fairy tale is important story-wise. It also has a strong video-game influence in terms of structure and creatures as the young boy accompanying the group keeps reminding us. His enthusiasm is also responsible for the few smiles in an otherwise dark adventure. I haven't watched a ton of animes (especially the recent ones) but considering my elated reaction, it might deserve to become a new classic. Rating : 8.5 out of 10

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